Autumn’s Magical Musical Weekend

POSTED ON: August 26, 2014 TAGGED IN:

This is the 4th piece in a series from Aron Goffin about her adventures with Autumn and her hubby this summer.

A little over one month ago, we introduced Autumn to one of our favorite annual traditions – the Northwest String Summit — a three day magical music festival with some of our favorite bands tucked in the hills of North Plains, Oregon. This year was my ninth year attending and Josh’s tenth. It was technically Autumn’s second year, having spent last year’s festival within the comfort of her womb.

We were especially excited, because this year, we were making our maiden voyage with our newly renovated vintage Shasta trailer. Instead of sleeping amongst hundreds of other campers, we would be able to camp in a quieter and more family friendly location. We’d even have our own bed and indoor plumbing!

With bands playing on multiple stages most hours of the day and night, there was no lack of music to introduce Autumn to, and the sound of banjos, mandolins, guitars, upright bass’, and fiddles continuously filled the air. Though we made our best effort to keep her on a nap schedule, we weren’t going to let this detail keep us from seeing our favorite musicians. When visiting music during evening hours, we put Autumn in the stroller, and packed warm clothes and a blanket should she fell asleep. We also made sure she wore noise canceling headphones to protect her young ears when nearby the stage.

When she wasn’t discovering music, hanging out with friends, watching resident peacocks, or exploring the festival grounds, Autumn spent time playing on the grass outside the trailer and eating fresh food from her high chair (yes, we made sure to bring with us). Though it was an exhausting weekend, it was worth every ounce of sleep deprivation knowing we were exposing her to an important part of our culture and community.

Autumn and Aron listen to the music from the bowl

A music festival is a great way to break up the summer and introduce your little one to large groups of people, lots of activity and noise. Importantly, such a stimulating environment may also warrant quality down time, routine and rest for several days once back home. Autumn had a great time on her fourth adventure of the summer, demonstrating great adaptability and flexibility.

Join us next time as we spend a long weekend in a cabin on Clear Lake!

Shanti here and I am the founder of Hike it Baby. I think over the last few years I've spent more time outside on adventures post baby than I ever had before baby. It's my mission to convince the world that hiking is the best gateway into loving the outdoors and making friends. When not hauling Mason around on my back I can be found trying to convince him that walking forward is better than walking around in circles. One of my favorite things to do is to take a total NON-HIKER and show them that hiking is as simple as stepping out your door. It's especially rewarding to see someone's face light up when they have that "a-ha" moment in the woods and connect with the sounds of a creek bubbling and the birds singing on a beautiful sunny day. Read More by Shanti

This Month

Shanti here and I am the founder of Hike it Baby. I think over the last few years I've spent more time outside on adventures post baby than I ever had before baby. It's my mission to convince the world that hiking is the best gateway into loving the outdoors and making friends. When not hauling Mason around on my back I can be found trying to convince him that walking forward is better than walking around in circles. One of my favorite things to do is to take a total NON-HIKER and show them that hiking is as simple as stepping out your door. It's especially rewarding to see someone's face light up when they have that "a-ha" moment in the woods and connect with the sounds of a creek bubbling and the birds singing on a beautiful sunny day. Read More by Shanti